The present invention is directed to medical devices, systems, and methods, particularly for those which employ cold for treatment of pain in a patient. Embodiments of the invention include cryogenic cooling needles that can be advanced through skin or other tissues to inhibit neural transmission of pain signals.
Therapeutic treatment of chronic or acute pain is among the most common reasons patients seek medical care. Chronic pain may be particularly disabling, and the cumulative economic impact of chronic pain is huge. A large portion of the population that is over the age of 65 may suffer from any of a variety of health issues which can predispose them to chronic or acute pain. An even greater portion of the nursing home population may suffer from chronic pain.
Current treatments for chronic pain may include pharmaceutical analgesics and electrical neurostimulation. While both these techniques may provide some level of relief, they can have significant drawbacks. For example, pharmaceuticals may have a wide range of systemic side effects, including gastrointestinal bleeding, interactions with other drugs, and the like. Opiod analgesics can be addictive, and may also of themselves be debilitating. The analgesic effects provided by pharmaceuticals may be relatively transient, making them cost-prohibitive for the aging population that suffers from chronic pain. While neurostimulators may be useful for specific applications, they generally involve surgical implantation, an expensive procedure which carries its own risks, side effects, contraindications, on-going maintenance issues, and the like.
In general, it would be advantageous to provide improved devices, systems, and methods for management of chronic and/or acute pain. Such improved techniques may avoid or decrease the systemic effects of toxin-based neurolysis and pharmaceutical approaches, while decreasing the invasiveness and/or collateral tissue damage of at least some known pain treatment techniques.